Scientist are curious people and we all know that the best discoveries happen by chance, so we always keep our eyes open for the unusual, the new, and the weird things in life. Especially, when we are out in the Arctic doing field work and find unknown brown layers… An unexpected discovery We were out in the Arctic, somewhere Northeast of Svalbard. It was a sunny day and we had just docked t ...[Read More]
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Cryospheric Sciences
A little guide to find your way through the Cryo-Jungle?
Are you starting your studies in cryospheric sciences, or are coming into our field from another subject? If so, you may have unsuspectingly waded into a (very thick) soup of acronyms! Don’t fret–here is your “one stop shop” that tells you where to look for more information! Early Career Organisations Unless you’re fortunate enough to be working in a polar-oriented institute (some of our previous ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Did you know that snow is hot?
When I was a student, Martin told me matter-of-factly that snow is hot. I probably looked as baffled as I felt (and you are probably doing the same). Were we talking about the same thing? Continue reading to discover why snow is hot! Discovering that snow is hot So why is snow hot? Most snow under Earth’s environmental conditions has a homologous temperature Th close to 1. The homologous temperatu ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Cryo History – Extent of South Georgia Glaciation during the Last Glacial Maximum
There has been considerable disagreement amongst researchers concerning the extent of South Georgia’s ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The sub-Antarctic islands (those below the polar front) may have been completely glaciated during previous glacials, and the last largest extent of the South Georgia ice sheet was during the LGM, about 21,000 years ago. But glaciologists don’t agree ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
More pancakes in the future!
More pancakes in the future – that sounds like a very good New Year’s Eve resolution for Sunday brunches, but it could also be a development of the most tasty looking sea ice shape in the Arctic. Let’s find out more! Arctic Sea Ice The growth and melt of Arctic sea ice follows a seasonal cycle. In the springtime, under the midnight sun, the sea ice begins to melt until it reaches its m ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Climate change and cryosphere – A wetter future for the Arctic
The latest climate models show that Arctic precipitation is changing more rapidly than previously projected with an earlier transition to a rainfall-dominated precipitation. This rapid change in precipitation will have huge implications for the Arctic ecosystem as well as those who live within the region. Arctic precipitation change, why is it so important? The rapid change in Arctic climate, from ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
The Polar Amplifier
It’s no secret that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet, but why? Polar Amplification (often called Arctic Amplification) is the mechanism at play. In this week’s blog, we find out about its origins and why it happens. Early Discoveries In 1969, Russian scientist Mikhail Budyko and US scientist William Sellers discovered independently that the increase in greenhouse gases comb ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
The Norwegian Polar Institute
It is a pleasure for the EGU Cryoblog team to present a new post category: Cryo-institutes around the world! There are many institutes working on cryosphere-related research spread around the world. The aim of this new category is to highlight the cool research that is carried out at these institutes, showing off our multi-faceted cryo-related science. In this opening post, Ashley Morris will pres ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Introducing TJ Young, our new early-career representative for the cryo-division of the EGU!
Every two years, the Cryospheric Sciences division of the European Geophysical Union (EGU) elects a new representative for its early-career scientists. Starting in April 2021, Tun Jan (TJ) Young will take over the role from Jenny Turton, who is the outgoing representative. TJ shares a bit about himself and how his previous leadership experience aligns with the goals of EGU’s early career scientist ...[Read More]
Cryospheric Sciences
Subglacial Hydrology For Dummies – Water, water everywhere…
Glaciers are mostly made of water. Sometimes, perhaps more than we’d like, some of that water makes a break for it by melting, the inconstant molecule… It might pootle around on the surface of the glacier a bit and get a lot of remote sensers very excited, but it’s what it does once it gets to the base of the glacier that really matters for the behaviour and flow of the ice. So, in 2000 word ...[Read More]